


Age and Stupidity, aka Unintentional Insults

by Gamebird



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:28:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28509675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gamebird/pseuds/Gamebird
Summary: A brief ficlet inspired by this article where the authors assume Neanderthals and other prehistoric people were stupid. Well, they phrase it was 'smarter than we thought!' but what that translates to is thinking they were stupid. It's the same BS directed for so long toward indigenous peoples, women, minorities, and anyone who doesn't belong to the class writing the article. It's so ubiquitous I can see Nile falling for it as well, forgetting that Andy is an example of intellect from 6700 years ago.https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/09/world/oldest-yarn-neanderthals-scn/index.html
Kudos: 18





	Age and Stupidity, aka Unintentional Insults

“Check this out,” Nile said, plopping down her laptop in front of Andy, an article about prehistorical yarn of the screen. “So. They used to think the oldest fiber arts dated to, like, twenty thousand years ago. But they just found some that went to forty. Isn’t that cool?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Andy said. She smiled and chuckled at how pleased Nile was by this.

“This is evidence that people back then were way smarter than we thought!”

Andy snorted. “Now _that_ is proof nothing has changed.”

“How’s that?”

“People have always thought everyone who wasn’t their tribe was stupid. And usually, depraved.”

Nile hesitated. “But this was thousands of years ago. Are you saying we, humans, haven’t gotten any smarter?”

“Do you think I’m an idiot?”

Nile blinked at her. “No! Wait! I didn’t mean _you!_ ”

“Yeah, you did," Andy said with a laugh. "People are people, Nile. They always have been. All the way back. Technology changes, but people haven’t. Not within my lifetime, at least.”


End file.
